Lesson for October 14, 2018
The Doctrine of Spirituality vs. Carnality
The Doctrine of the Unique Life (cont’d)
If God does not have number one priority in your life, you will never be a winner, an invisible hero or a credible witness for God at Satan’s final appeal trial of the Angelic Conflict. And your relationships with yourself and others will be a continuous disaster as long as you live. When believers have poor relations with others, even with their friends and loved ones, there’s a very good reason for it! As a believer in Jesus Christ, having people-emphasis over God-emphasis creates poor relationships with people. The only way this can ever be solved is by placing God-emphasis over people-emphasis, which is impossible apart from learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine.
The Unique Life is characterized by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.(Romans 8:11; I Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20; II Corinthians 6:16) The indwelling of the Holy Spirit must be distinguished from the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Church Age believer is never commanded to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit because this occurs at salvation. But he is commanded to glorify Christ, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to walk by means of the Holy Spirit.
The filling of the Holy Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit controlling your soul. “Walking by means of the Spirit” is the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit inside the Divine Dynasphere. Therefore, distinction between the non-experiential ministry of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the experiential ministry of the filling of the Holy Spirit must be made. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not an experience. You cannot feel it, see it; it is not an emotion. It is something provided by God at salvation to be believed.
The purpose of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is related to “Christ being formed in our bodies.” “Christ being at home in our hearts,” and to “glorifying Christ in our bodies,” And the purpose of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is to provide a base of operation for the filling and enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, it is the enabling power of the Holy Spirit in the perception of doctrine that results in: (a) “Christ being formed in your bodies,” the experience of spiritual self-esteem (b) “Christ at home in your hearts,” the experience of spiritual autonomy and (c) “Christ being glorified in your body,” the experience of spiritual maturity. The experiential filling ministry of the Holy Spirit is commanded. It is not to be confused with the indwelling of the Spirit, though the indwelling of the Spirit provides the base of operations. The experiential ministry of the Holy Spirit is commanded in Ephesians 5:18 which says to keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit. That means the Holy Spirit controls your soul.
The experiential ministry of the Spirit is also commanded in relationship to the filling of the Holy Spirit inside the Divine Dynasphere. Galatians 5:16 says to keep walking by means of the Holy Spirit. The enabling power of the Holy Spirit inside the Divine Dynasphere results in the understanding of Bible doctrine because the Holy Spirit is the ultimate teacher of doctrine. Jesus Christ prophesied about this ministry in John 16:14, “When He [Holy Spirit] comes, He shall glorify Me.” The filling of the Holy Spirit is not an emotional experience. The filling of the Holy Spirit results in glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Experiential Nature of the Unique Life
The Unique Life is both experiential and non-experiential. The non-experiential part of the Unique Life is the indwelling of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is no experience or feeling related to this. It is nothing you can see, hear, taste, or touch. The experiential part of the unique life is glorifying God in our bodies.
The Unique Life not living in the cosmic system, which is called “grieving the Holy Spirit” in Ephesians 4:30 and “quenching the Holy Spirit” in I Thessalonians 5:19. Generally in the cosmic system, a believer emphasizes relationship with self or others over relationship with God. The Unique Life is not the life of the carnal Christian as recorded in I Corinthians 3:1-4. Generally, the carnal Christian emphasizes self over relationship with God.
The Unique Life is not living under the Mosaic Law according to Galatians 5:18-24 and Romans 10:1-4. We are not under the Law of Moses, but in a plan far greater than ever existed in the Age of Israel. So, any experience of a Christian outside of God’s `power system, the Divine Dynasphere, is not a part of the Unique Life of the Church Age believer.
The Unique Life emphasizes residence, function, and momentum inside your very own palace, the Divine Dynasphere under the filling of the Holy Spirit. Experientially, the Unique Life is glorification of Jesus Christ in your body. This is an experience, in contrast to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is not an experience. The experiential side of the Unique Life, which is the filling of the Holy Spirit, comes out of the non-experiential side of the unique life, which is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The Unique Life is Jesus Christ being glorified in our physical bodies during our time on this earth by means of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Certain passages, like Ephesians 5:1 and I Corinthians 6:20, talk about “glorifying God in your bodies,” which is a reference to Jesus Christ. Distinction must be understood between the indwelling of Christ and the Christian experience of glorifying Christ. Christ indwells your body; that is not an experience. Glorifying Christ in your body is an experience. Distinction must also be understood between the non-experiential indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our bodies and the experiential filling of the Holy Spirit in glorifying Christ in our bodies. In Ephesians 5:1, we are commanded to “become imitators of God as beloved children and walk in virtue-love.” In this verse, God refers to Jesus Christ as the only visible member of the Trinity, John 1:18, 6:46; I Timothy 3:16; I John 4:12. With this understanding, it is obvious that the command to “become imitators of God” is a reference to Christ. We imitate Christ when we live inside the Divine Dynasphere and execute the Protocol Plan of God.
Jesus Christ in His humanity lived inside the prototype Divine Dynasphere. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and walked by means of the Spirit. Now we are commanded to “imitate God” in the sense that we can live in our own Divine Dynasphere, under the filling of the Holy Spirit, walking by means of the Holy Spirit, and executing God’s plan for us. In I Corinthians 6:20, we are told, “For you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” Again, God is a reference to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:10 says that the indwelling of Christ has a definite relationship to the filling of the Holy Spirit which produces the Unique Life. In corrected translation this verse says, “In fact, if Christ is in you [and He is], on the one hand, the body is dead because of the sin nature, but on the other hand, the [Holy] Spirit is [the unique] life because of [imputed divine] righteousness.” The Holy Spirit indwells your body to empower you in the fulfillment of the Protocol Plan of God through the Unique Life in order to glorify Christ.
The Unique Life is Related to Spiritual Adulthood
Spiritual adulthood is attained by consistent residence inside God’s power system, the Divine Dynasphere, under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from the study and application of Bible doctrine; which is the means of fulfilling the Protocol Plan of God, the Unique Life and the Lifestyle of Wisdom. The Protocol Plan of God emphasizes residence, function and momentum inside the Divine Dynasphere. The emphasis of the Unique Life is the fact that each member of the Trinity indwells your body. The Holy Spirit is the teacher of Bible doctrine according to John 14:26, 16:12-14; I Corinthians 2:9-16; I John 2:27, where the “anointing of the Spirit” is the teaching of the Word of God by the Holy Spirit. The communicator of doctrine is the pastor-teacher, but without the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit believers will never understand doctrine and therefore will lose out on their escrow blessings.
Each stage of spiritual adulthood is characterized by suffering for blessing or undeserved suffering, designed to intensify and speed up your advance to spiritual maturity. Suffering for blessing is combined with spiritual self-esteem to advance you to spiritual autonomy. Momentum testing is combined with spiritual autonomy to advance you to spiritual maturity. Evidence testing is combined with spiritual maturity for the maximum glorification of God while on this earth (super-grace); it is the ultimate in the Unique Life. All this adds up to glorification of Jesus Christ in our bodies which is accomplished by God the Holy Spirit.
The Unique Life is related to spiritual self-esteem. Spiritual self-esteem is the first stage of spiritual adulthood. Spiritual self-esteem was first attained by the humanity of Christ in the prototype Divine Dynasphere. Now we have the same privilege. Perception of doctrine plus the filling of the Spirit advances us to spiritual self-esteem. When we attain spiritual self-esteem, Christ is “formed in our bodies” and we have the same type of spiritual self-esteem that the humanity of Christ had. Galatians 4:19, “My little children [believers too long in spiritual childhood, now in legalism], from whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” Paul’s analogy was him trying to “give birth” to spiritually mature believers.
“Christ is formed in our bodies” means that the characteristics of Jesus Christ in spiritual self-esteem now become the characteristics of the believer in spiritual self-esteem. The spiritual self-esteem of Christ was dramatically illustrated in His prayer the night before the crucifixion. “Father, if it be Your will, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not My will but Your will be done.” (Luke 22:41-42) Spiritual self-esteem is the beginning of emphasis on relationship with God over relationship with self or people. It is characterized primarily by personal love for God, the highest motivation in life.
The Unique Life is related to spiritual autonomy. Ephesians 3:16-17, “I pray that He might give you on the basis of His riches in glory [Portfolio of Invisible Assets], that you might become strong [advance to spiritual adulthood] by means of His power through His Spirit [enabling power of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Dynasphere] in your inner being (soul) so that Christ may be at home in your hearts (right lobes) [function of spiritual autonomy] through doctrine when you have been rooted and grounded in virtue-love [maximum metabolized doctrine].” Since Ephesians 3:17 makes virtue-love a prerequisite of “Christ being at home in your hearts,” then this statement must refer to a believer in spiritual autonomy who has reached both motivational virtue (personal love for God) and functional virtue (impersonal love for mankind). The believer in spiritual autonomy is already motivated by personal love for God. His impersonal love for all mankind finishes out the function of being “rooted and grounded in virtue-love.” Therefore, Christ is now at home in the heart (right lobe) of the believer.
The Unique Life is related to spiritual maturity. Philippians 1:20 in corrected translation, “According to my intense concentration and resultant hope, that in nothing shall I be disgraced [failure to pass suffering for blessing], but with all integrity, even now as always, Christ shall be glorified in My body [spiritual maturity], whether by living or by dying.” “Intense concentration,” refers to God-emphasis over people- emphasis, i.e., giving #1 priority to relationship with God over relationship with people. “Disgraced” is failure to pass the tests of undeserved suffering. Jesus Christ being glorified in our body, whether in living or in dying is the highest experience of the Unique Life of the Church Age believer. “Christ being glorified in the body” is the attainment of spiritual maturity. Philippians 1:21, “For me, living is Christ and dying is profit.” “Living is Christ” is the ultimate experience of the Unique Life, the attainment of spiritual maturity, the passing of evidence testing, all of which results in the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ in your body. “Dying is profit,” refers to dying grace. Dying grace includes anticipation of even greater escrow blessings for eternity, which are distributed by Jesus Christ Himself at the Judgment Seat of Christ.